Biography

Born on July 28, 1993, Cher Lloyd lived with her parents and three siblings in Malvern before making herself famous through the British series "The X Factor". Lloyd tried out for the singing talent show twice before making it through. Both times, during which she sang ballads, she was rejected. Lloyd has better luck in the show's seventh series, singing a Keri Hilson version of Soulja Boy's "Turn My Swag On". Judges, especially Cheryl Cole, were impressed by the 16-year-old and the audience gave her a standing ovation. "You were actually my favorite audition so far," Cole commented and later took Lloyd under her guidance. Lloyd's journey on "X Factor" was not a smooth one. She lost her voice from tonsillitis when performing "Cooler Than Me" at the judges' house. Despite not finishing the song and breaking down at the end, she was picked as one of the final three girls. Lloyd displayed her talent in rap songs in the first three live shows, choosing "Stay" in her fourth for a change. She excelled for six weeks straight but was put in the bottom two in the seventh live show. The judges saved her against Pajie Richardson. Again in the semifinal, she relied on the judges' favor to escape the bottom two. But the audience votes put her in the lowest position during final and she was eliminated to finish in the fourth place. Lloyd, however, scored a recording deal with Simon Cowell's Syco Music. The work on her debut album was kicked off as soon as she completed the "X Factor" tour. She was assisted by producer RedOne and songwriter Autumn Rowe, releasing "Swagger Jagger" as the first single. It peaked at number one on U.K. Singles Chart in August 2011. Lloyd collaborated with Busta Rhymes, Mike Posner, Ghetts, Mic Righteous and Dot Rotten among others in her album, "Sticks Stones". Upon its release in U.K. in January 2012, it reached number four in the Albums chart. She immediately launched a tour in U.K. to support the album and was preparing herself for a U.S. breakthrough. Producer L.A. Reid was on hand to introduce her to the foreign market. Stateside, "Sticks Stones" will be released in October 2012 through Epic Records with a clean version of "Want U Back" as the first single. She promoted her music by performing the single on "America's Got Talent" in July.Meanwhile, she entered the studio once again for the work of her sophomore effort. Her personal life also reached a new level as she got engaged to boyfriend Craig in March that year. [h/t: aceshowbiz]